Month: October 2017

How to Lose Weight in 5 Easy Steps

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5 Steps to Weight Loss

So, you are wanting to lose weight but you’re not quite sure where to start? Great for you! I am going to lay it out in five easy to follow steps. First of all, you will need to ask yourself some questions. How much weight do you want to lose? How do you intent to lose the weight? What changes do I need to make in my life in order to loss the weight? What are the benefits of me losing weight and why do I want to lose it? Write the answers of these questions down on a piece of paper. I have a printable for you to fill out HERE with these questions included. This will be the start of your weight loss journal. So here are the 5 steps below. I will go through them each in further detail.

Step 1: Set Goals for Yourself

So this goes with the question “How much weight do you want to lose?”. Goals are important to set because it creates a motivational drive to something that you are wanting to accomplish. Goals are something that you are going to strive for, something you want to complete. For example, your goal may be that you want to lose 50 pounds, to drink more water, or to eat more vegetables. Your goals should be specific and easy for you to measure to determine that you have or have not met your goals during a set amount of time. Be very specific when writing out your goals. When losing weight, you need to set small (short term) goals and also big (long term) goals. When you accomplish your small goals, it makes you feel good and provided you with motivation to pushing yourself toward your big goals. You will reach your long term goals as you complete all of your short term goals. Write these goals down and reference often.

Some examples of short term goals:

Lose 5 pounds in one month.

Drink 8 glasses of water everyday for 2 weeks straight.

Workout at least 5 days/week every week this month.

Some examples of long term goals:

Lose 50 pounds.

Fit into size 8 jeans.

Fell comfortable wearing a bikini.

Step 2: Create a Plan

This is a plan on how you are going to reach the goals that you created in step one. To loss weight, simple put is to eat less calories and exercise more. It’s revolves around a theory of calorie intake and calories burnt to figure out your goal amount of calorie “budget” for the day. If you are trying to loss weight, a recommended calorie goal would be between 1200-1600/day (not to exceed). You can “out eat” any amount of exercise that you do. When you are looking to lose weight, a high protein/low-carb diet is recommended for the fastest results. For more on what to eat, check you my other post on clean eating. A restrictive diet will only work short term. Following a clean eating diet will help you keep the weight off that you have worked so far to lose.

To lose one pound, you need to be at a calories deficit of 3,500 calories. This means that if you decrease your calorie allowance (2,000 standard) by 500 calories for 7 days straight, you will lose 1 one in a week.

One pound=3,500 calories

500 x 7=3,500

So instead of consuming 2000 calories for the day, you would set a limit of 1500. You will want to count your calories and record the foods that you are eating. There are two ways to count calories: read labels and write it in a food diary or use an app to record them such as Fitness Pal or Lose It!. I personally have used the free version of Lose It! and it was great way to count my calories and stay on track. Also on a plus side, Lose it! also creates a nice chart to follow your weight losses and gains. If you are a fan of Jillian Michaels, she also has a fitness App! See the link below for a seven day free trial. It include workout videos and support groups.Get meal plans, workouts and the support you need to get fit and strong with Jillian Michaels. Start your 7-Day Free Trial!
In addition to cutting calories, you need to start an exercise program. Pick exercises that you like and plan to do them at least 5 times per week. Switch it up though! Don’t do the same exact thing everyday. You want to be doing different activities that will use different muscle groups. Plus if you did the same thing everyday, I’m sure you’d get bored with it and want to quit. Plan to exercise at least 30 minutes per day 5 days out of the week. Also don’t forget to stretch! If you are new to exercise and are taking prescription medications, it is always advised to consult for doctor before starting an exercise regime.

Step 3: Implement the Plan

This is simply putting your plan into action. This will be making changes in your lifestyle in order to meet your goals. I recommend eating Clean foods as mentioned in step 2. You also want to increase your protein intake of lean meats and decrease your carbohydrate intake, especially after lunch. Follow your set calorie budget by counting your calories. Programs that involve meal replacement shakes do not work on a long term basis. These shakes are also so bad for your health. Many have added laxatives, processed ingredients, thickeners, added sugar, and are low in protein. Here is a detailed post on why not to drink meal replacement shakes by Dr. Axe. Instead of these shakes, you need to learn to eat healthy. Track you calories and remember that every bite counts. I would recommend recording everything that you eat. Recording your food intake will make you feel accountable for everything you eat and you will be able to see how many calories you have left for the day.

At Country Clean N Fit, we have created an easy to use daily food and exercise journal for you to use. There are spaces designated to record your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and any snacks that you have during the day. There are also glasses on it to cross off as you go through your day. Don’t forget to drink your 8 glasses of water! Yes, I said water: not soda, milk, or juice. Fun Fact: Water has zero calories and will help you fell fuller longer. You will also record your calories burnt to calculate your daily calorie budget today. Click the link below for your free printable to use. It really is handy! And it’s FREE, we’ll e-mail it directly to you.

Get up and keep moving! Track your exercise everyday and write that down on a fitness calendar. Aim for at least 5 times per week. Keep striving to compete the goals from step one. If you are struggling, find a workout buddy, join a gym, or sign-up for a yoga class. Stay motivated and don’t quit. One thing that I had did, was sign-up for a 5K race. I had a set date that I was aiming for. A goal that I created, was to run 3.1 miles straight without stopping to walk. Once I obtained that goal, I worked at decreasing the time that it took me to run that distance. These were a couple goals that I had to enable me to loss weight. Everyday that I was able to go out running, I was excited to run and highly motivated to push myself to get going because I wanted to reach my goals and to beat my own personal record.

Rewarding yourself when you hit certain goals can also be a motivating factor. Food rewards are not recommended. So don’t make your reward as going out for ice cream or eating out at your favorite restaurant. Make a reward a material object such as new workout shoes, a purse, or new clothes. Go get a massage or have your nails done when your hit your half way mark to your long term weight loss goal. Think of these rewards while you are working out to help drive your motivation.

Step 4: Follow Your Progress

Did you reach the short term goals that you set for yourself? If not, you need to create a plan on how you are going to get that accomplished. When you reach your short term goals, create new ones!! If you find that you are getting your workouts in and you still aren’t losing weight, re-evaluate and reflect on your workouts and your eating habits. What is the intensity levels of your workouts? Are you skipping your workouts some days? How long are you working outs? Are you exceeding your calorie budget some days? There likely are changes that could be made.
Re-evaluate your goals at the end of every month. Did you reach them or did you not? Make notes in your journal from time to time. Are you feeling hungry? Make note of food cravings that you are having. What are you finding that you are struggling with? You may need to adjust your original plan that your created in step 2. If you are struggling, find a work-out buddy. There are also many online groups that you can join that let you reach out to others with the same goals.

Step 5: Reach Your Goals

Congratulations you did it! You reached your long term goal. Once you have reached your goal weight, you still want to continue with your healthy lifestyle habits. If you go back to the way you where living, you are quite likely to re-gain the weight that you just worked so hard to lose. Maintenance is now what you need to strive for. Continue working out. You should be exercising on a regular basis to keep your muscles strong, help increase your energy levels, and improve your mental health. Regular exercise helps decrease the likely-hood of heart disease, stroke, depression, arthritis, and type II diabetes. So still keep moving and eating well. Please continue with your healthy lifestyle!

So, Here a Re-cap:

There are 5 steps you need to follow to be successfully losing weight. First, you need to set a goal in which you want to reach. Lets say you want to reach a total weight loss of 50 pounds. That is your long term goal. To reach that goal, you need to eat better and exercise more. Lower your daily calorie budget somewhere between 1200 and 1600 calories. Eat healthy clean meals made from whole ingredient foods. Create short term goals that will push yourself to reach your long term goal. Create a fitness plan by choosing how you are going to exercise and when you will do so. You want to workout, 30 minutes per day, at least 5 times per week. Implement you plan- put it all into action. Evaluate your plan (Our Printable Bundle is a great tool to do this with!). If you are not reaching your goals, review your fitness journal and find out why. Create new short term goals as you complete them. Use rewards as motivation if you wish. Keep going until you reach your long term goal.

I hope you have found this post helpful! Good luck on your weight loss goals. I know that you can do it if you put your mind to it. And don’t forget to check out our Food & Exercise Journal and put it to good use.

Click HERE for e-mail updates on new posts about fitness and weight loss. If you like the Food & Exercise Journal, I am currently putting together some great fitness planner printables for anyone to use. Some of these include: a Weekly Calorie Log, a Monthly Weight Loss Tracker, and a 7 Day Water Challenge just to name a few. I’ll let you know when I have it put together! You won’t know when it is useless you sign-up. Don’t miss it.

Food is Fuel, Not Therapy!

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Good Morning and Happy Monday!! Hope all is well with you this morning. Here is this week’s quote: Remember: food is fuel, not therapy. I guess this quote references mindless eating. Snacking because you are bored or perhaps emotional eating. You want to think of food as fuel for you body. Eating fuels your body with protein, sugars, vitamins, minerals, and fats. Pay attention to your macros. Does your body need the food that you are preparing to eat? If not, re-think it.

7 ways to prevent mindless eating:

Keep unhealthy snacks out of sight, off the counter top.

Do meal planning. Prep healthy meals ahead of time.

Always eat a healthy breakfast. It will start your day off right.

Eats 4-6 smaller healthy meals during the day. Less snacking.

Make sure to drink your water! It will keep you felling full for longer.

Count calories and write everything down that your consume.

Practice portion control, know proper portions sizes.

If you haven’t already, take a minute and check out our Facebook Page. On our page, you will help helpful tips and updates from our blog.

Eating healthy and clean meals is very important to any weight loss journey. Avoid quick and easy “convenience” meals and anything processed. Use methods such as portion control and calories counting to help your weight loss become more successful. Eat healthier and exercise more to drive your body to loss weight. For more of clean eating, check out the post below.

If you are struggling with ideas for healthy meals, check our recipes.

Chicken Enchiladas with Homemade Tomatillo Sauce

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate Ads.

As I was trying to figure out what to do with all the tomatillos from my garden I stumbled upon a recipe for tomatillo enchilada sauce. I was wanted to try something other than Salsa Verde so I thought that was great. I made some alterations to make the recipes more kid friendly (less spicy!!). I wanted to share that recipe with you here. I made some chicken enchiladas with this sauce and they turned out amazing.

Ingredients:

3 Chicken Breasts

1 pound Tomatillas

1 medium Onion

1/2 bunch Fresh Cilantro

2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Cloves Garlic

3 Banana Peppers

1/2 T Sugar

1/2 tsp Salt

1 tsp Cumin

1/2 Tbsp Tajin Seasoning

To Make Enchiladas:

I used frozen chicken for this recipe. So to start, pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in oven-proof pan and season with Tajin Seasoning and Cumin. Cover chicken with foil and bake in oven until cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. You can check the temperature using a thermometer like THIS ONE. While the chicken bakes, it’s time to make the sauce! Place skillet on stove over med-high heat. Add 1 T of EVOO into skillet. Saute garlic and onions. Add to skillet: quartered tomatillos and sliced peppers, season with sugar, salt, and cumin. Cook for 5 minutes or until tomatillos tender. Place all contents of skillet in blender or food processor and blend until smooth, set aside.

Once chicken is cooked, shred chicken and place in same skillet used earlier. Top chicken with fresh chopped cilantro and a sprinkle of salt. Cook for 3 minutes. Warm tortilla shells in microwave for 30 seconds to soften. Having soft tortilla will make them more pliable, easier to work with, and less likely to rip. Fill tortillas with chicken and top with cheese. Roll tortillas in a burrito-like fashion.

Place 1 cup of sauce on bottom of 9 x 13 casserole dish, spread out evenly. Fill enchiladas into pan, placing them seam side down. Top with remainder of sauce and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese. Bake the chicken enchiladas in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately with desired toppings!

In oven-proof pan, place chicken breasts. Season with Tajin and Cumin, cover with foil. Bake appox 30-45 minutes or until chicken is cooked to 165 degrees.

While chicken is cooking, make the sauce. Start by placing olive oil into skillet. Saute garlic and onions for 3 minutes. Add quartered tomatillos and peppers, season with salt, sugar, and cumin. Cook for 5 minutes or until tomatillos are tender.

Blend all contents of skillet in either a blender or food processor until smooth. Set aside.

Shred cooked chicken and place in same skillet. Add chopped cilantro and mix. Simmer for 3 minutes.

Warm tortillas in microwave for 30 seconds. This will soften them to make them easier to work with.

Motivation Monday

She believed she could, so she did!!

Happy Monday! Good morning. So here is your motivational quote for today. She believed she could, so she did. Wherever you are on your journal, keep pushing yourself toward your goals! If your believe that you are able to reach your goals, you just need to keep going girl! If you are struggling, find some help if you need. If what you are doing is not working, re-evaluate your short term goals and plan things differently.

If hope this quote helps. If you believed that you can, you will. Find ways to make it happen. You can do it!! Check out all my fitness quotes HERE.

Three Months From Now

Yes, that is all it takes for you to see results. If you fell discouraged just remember this. You need to remember why you started and focus on that. It can be very easy to get discouraged if you aren’t seeing results as quickly as you would like. But first you need to get started. Once you get a plan together, stick to it! If you realize you don’t like one activity to loss weight, try another. Whatever you do, don’t give up! Create goals and work toward them every day. Set large goals and crush small goals. Hey, every little bit you do gets you closer to achieving your large goals.